Following incessant rainfall in Uttarakhand's Chamoli district, the Badrinath National Highway (NH-7) has been shut for the last 13 hours at Lambagad and Khachada drains. Amid the closure of the NH, passengers are stuck. National Highways Authority of India has been working continuously to open the highway so that the public can commute easily. A visual of the blocked Highway surfaced on social media.
The debris is being cleared so that the commuters can be on their way as soon as possible.
Previously, the NH got blocked Thursday due to a landslide after it reopened for traffic on Friday morning. Authorities closed it at Chhinka in the State's Chamoli district which left many commuters, including pilgrims and tourists who were travelling to and from the Badrinath shrine, stuck.
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On Thursday, landslides and flash floods in Uttarakhand were caused by torrential rains, triggering a landslide at the same location and a 100-meter portion of the highway was shut.
Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on the highway, PTI reported officials as saying. The stranded pilgrims included those who were on their way to Badrinath and Hemkund Sahib.
The stranded pilgrims had to wait in Gauchar, Karnaprayag, Nandprayag, and Chamoli, and the passenger vehicles in Badrinath, Joshimath, and Pipalkoti for the route to be restored, an official release informed. Though the pilgrims are stranded, they are secure, it said.
Many pilgrims are also stranded at the spot where the landslide occurred. They are being provided food and water by the district administration, an official said, as per PTI.
Water tankers were also stationed at the spot to supply drinking water to the stranded pilgrims.
The section of the Chandigarh-Manali highway between Mandi and Kullu was closed on Monday due to a landslide, and aerial shots of the region revealed hundreds of travellers being trapped on the highways.